Western Front

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As the First World War progressed more troops were needed for the Western Front. To meet this demand Expeditionary Force A from India was sent to reinforce the British Troops – particularly in France.[1]

Many men who fell during these campaigns are honoured by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Amongst these are 4,742 soldiers from India whose names are recorded on the Neuve Chapelle Memorial in France. In 1964 these names were expanded to also commemorate 210 servicemen of India whose graves at Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery in East Germany could not be maintained.

Related articles

War Diaries

Included in the many records held at the National Archives Kew is the series WO 95 - War Office: First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries.

In addition to Battalion war diaries, there may be higher level Brigade and Division war diaries, which may provide information about Battalions not be found in the relevant Battalion diaries, or Battalion diaries may not have survived. The vast majority of war diaries for RFA units [Royal Artillery] were kept at the brigade level.[2]

Some War Diaries, many of which are handwritten, have been digitised and are available (on a pay basis) online from various sources: from the National Archives through the Discovery catalogue[3], from Naval and Military Archive[4], part of Naval & Military Press, which also publishes print and DVD-ROM versions, and through Ancestry which contains the database "UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920" (selected, and at times, part war diaries only)[5][6](search hints[7][8]) (and another database for Gallipoli). The Ancestry database also contains War Diaries for some Indian, Australian, New Zealand, and other regiments.
Some transcribed war diaries (where the handwriting has been deciphered for you!) edited by Martin Gillott, series title (and publisher) Great War Diaries, for British Army and Indian Army regiments, are available through Amazon.co.uk[9] in Kindle editions which have a Search facility (anyone with Kindle Unlimited can read them for free). (Download of a free Kindle App is available onto a PC, Mac or tablet - you don't need Kindle). The transcribed Indian Army Great War Diaries currently (2017/12) available are 15th Ludhiana Sikhs War Diary 1914-15: Indian Army on the Western Front; 57th (Wilde's) Rifles (Frontier Force) War Diary 1914-15: The Indian Army on the Western Front; 59th (Scinde) Rifles (FF) War Diary 1914-15: Indian Army on the Western Front.

Also see External links below.

The Australian War Memorial website[10] contains Australian and New Zealand Army War diaries (available for free).

There is also a record series, consisting of of printed volumes at the British Library, called "Indian Army First World War - War Diaries" IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-4246 : 1914-1921, which includes Western Front War Diaries. Includes War Diary [Collection], Army Headquarters India, Indian Expeditionary Force 'A' [France]. GSI, 1914-19. 26 vols IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3086-3149. This record series also includes records which do not specifically include the words "War Diaries" in the title, which may relate to the Western Front such as IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-2499. Note: this record series is not available online.

Recommended reading

Recommended by Peter Moore on the Military reading list
"Sepoy in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914-15 by Gordon Corrigan, Kent, UK; first edition. 1999; 16 plates; 9 maps; hardcover; 274 pp. An excellent, updated account of the sufferings and heroism of the Indian regiments sent to France in the bitterest of winters clad only in tropical uniforms until transferred to the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1915. The author, a retired Major (late Royal Gurkha Rifles and ex-10GR), 1998), has an authentic feel for the old Indian Army and the times".

“Well worth tracking a copy, both as a fascinating book and a display of how good military history should be written.“[11]

For an interview with the author Gordon Corrigan, see below.

Time zones

During the First World War, France was in the same time zone as Great Britain, (Greenwich Mean Time). Germany was one hour ahead (GMT+1). Germany first introduced Daylight Saving time Sunday, 30 April 1916, 23:00:00 when clocks were forwarded one hour. France followed on Wednesday, 14 June 1916, 23:00:00 pm when clocks were forwarded 1 hour. (Details.[12])

Indian treacle (opium)

On the Western Front, Sikh troops were supplied with Indian treacle, an euphemism for opium, which was part of their ration.[13]

External links

Video and transcript: "Illiterate but Literary: The Censored Correspondence of Indian Soldiers in France, 1914-18" by Dr David Omissi, recorded on 2 November 2015 nam.ac.uk, including YouTube video.
See Historical books online, below.
Neuve Chapelle Memorial ww1cemeteries.com

Sketches

Maps

  • Maps of the French Artillery Survey Group, 1917 - ca. 1919. USA Army versions, based on French military maps. Contains 9 online French Trench Maps. Click on “Search within this series”, then click on “Archival Descriptions with digital objects” (Left hand side of webpage). Website of The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
This series contains Plans Directeurs maps. Information about these types of maps is included in the article "The Great War and Modern Mapping: WWI in the Map Division" May 15, 2015. New York Public Library.
Initial Burial Plats for World War I American Soldiers, 1920 – 1920 Digitised maps detailing the location of American soldier battlefield grave sites. Series RG92: WWI Grave Plats. Click on “Search within this series”. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Volume II 10th edition with maps to 1918. Gallica BnF
Includes the National Archives series WO 153 "War Office: War of 1914-1918: Maps and Plans". The catalogue may be searched through Discovery. The maps and plans in this series were collected from various sources, mainly for use by the Official War Historians, and as such were originally held in the Cabinet Office Historical Section. Many were extracted from regimental war diaries. More details, Western Front maps.
Conventional map signs, British and French [Military] Also some German. Printed by U.S. Geological Survey, 1918. Harvard University Digital Library.

Historical books online

Also see First World War - Historical books online, including general histories such as The Times History of the War with illustrations, and periodical publications with illustrations such as The Illustrated War News.

Histories and general

Despatch from Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig ... covering the period from 8th December, 1917, to 30th April, 1918 London : Printed under the authority of H.M.S.O. 1918. Harvard University Digital Library.
Real War 1914-1918 by B H Liddell Hart 1930 Archive.org. An enlarged edition was published as: A History of the World War, 1914-1918, 1934. Reprinted as
History of the First World War by B. H. Liddell Hart 1972 Archive.org Lending Library. B. H. Liddell Hart Wikipedia.
The Role Of British Strategy In The Great War by CRMF Cruttwell 1936 Archive.org
Other regimental histories, see 2nd King Edward's Own Goorkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles); 8th Gurkha Rifles- the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles had many deaths on the Western Front; 2nd Bombay Pioneers;
Volume of 14 Maps National Library of Australia, with a description in the catalogue entry.
World War I Collection Combined Arms Research Library [CARL] Digital Library.
The Army behind the Army by Major Alexander Powell USA 1919 Archive.org
American Armies and Battlefields in Europe: a History, Guide, and Reference Book prepared by the American Battle Monuments Commission 1938 Archive.org. A revision of the 1927 publication A Guide to the American Battlefields in Europe HathiTrust Digital Library
The U.S. Air Service In World War I in four volumes, edited by Maurer Maurer, The Office of Air Force History. 1978 Archive.org.
The Canadian Forestry Corps; its inception, development and achievements by C.W. Bird and J.B. Davies HMSO London 1919 Archive.org. Includes a chapter "Operations in France", which includes a brief mention, page 42, of the use of Indian labour. The final chapter from page 50 "An Imperial Link" is missing.
  • French Official Histories: Les Armées françaises dans la Grande Guerre sga.defense.gouv.fr. French language. Eleven Tomes, some with multiple volumes, mostly about the Western Front. With online maps (Cartes) and at times panoramic sketches (Croquis panoramiques).
Gallica – The BnF Digital Library contains many publications, mostly French language. Use specific search terms, or the Advanced Search for Sujet search terms such as Guerre mondiale ( 1914 -1918) -- Histoire des unités or Guerre mondiale ( 1914 -1918) -- Campagnes et batailles.
Also available from the Universty of Hamburg Library as pdf downloads: Der Weltkrieg and Schlachten des Weltkrieges, or if these URLs are not permanent, use Recherche [Digitalisierte Bestände].
Deutschlands Krieg in der Luft : ein Rückblick auf die Entwicklung und die Leistungen unserer Heeres-Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege by Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner 1921. Archive.org. German language. Also available National Library of Estonia - English webpage option available.
  • Some Regimental and Divisional Histories, and some Manuals from the British Library Digital Collection may be accessed by Searching the British Library Main Catalogue, using search term such as Army Great Britain or War Office Great Britain, or specific search terms. Then use side filters, Online, Books. Note: Selecting the filter for date does not appear to be accurate, so it is best to re-order the Search results according to date, and then select those applicable to WW1.
Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader "World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories Great Britain". Also use the Search.
Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader "World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns" Includes some regimental histories.
The Ancestry owned pay website fold3 contains many online regimental and Divisional histories consisting of online versions of reprints from Naval & Military Press, located in World War II/ Military Books/ then select Britain, or France.
The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade August 1914 to March 1915 by its Commander Brigadier General Count Gleichen (now Major-General Lord Edward Gleichen) 1917 Archive.org
A History of the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in the Great War 1914-1918 [in three Volumes] Edited by Major General A G Wauchope 1926. Vol III (8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th & 14th Battalions). Volume III transcribed edition lib.militaryarchive.co.uk.
An internet Search using the term lib.militaryarchive.co.uk may find other histories from this source.
Maps issued in a separate case [Volume 2]: 19 maps and 5 photographs National Library of Australia
Specimens of British trench orders. This book discusses the duties of the Canadian Corps trench officers, based on examples from the British Army. Includes trench orders, battalion trench standing orders, brigade standing orders for the trenches, and the 55th (West Lancashire) Division trench orders. Archive.org.

Medical Services including Veterinary

"At the Somme" [War Poetry] by Mary Borden-Turner published in The English Review, August 1917, page 97. Mary Borden Wikipedia.
Elsie and Mairi Go To War : two extraordinary women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson 2010 Archive.org Lending Library
Also see Fiction below, for a book where there is a representation of these two women, but not as the main character.

Indian Army

In the Air

1981 edition of 1967 reprint with additional material ; 2002 edition with additional material the latter two Archive.org Lending Library.
Billy Bishop Wikipedia . He was the top Canadian ace of the war.
  • The Royal Flying Corps in the War by "Wing Adjutant" 1918 Archive.org. The author is catalogued as W. T. (Wilfrid Theodore) Blake. Sketches, some personal experiences. Digitised microfiche.
Plane Tales from the Skies by "Wing Adjutant" [Wilfrid Theodore Blake] 1918 Archive.org
The Red Knight of Germany : the story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's great war bird by Floyd Gibbons. 1959 “new illustrated abridgement”, first published 1927. Elsewhere the author is stated to have been war correspondent with the Chicago Tribune. Archive.org Lending Library.
Richthofen, the Red Knight of the Air by Claud Sykes (Vigilant) 2004 reprint edition, first published 1934. Archive.org Lending Library. As a reprint, part of the series Fortunes of War.
Who killed the Red Baron? by P J Carisella and James W Ryan. 1969. 1979 reprint. Both editions Archive.org Lending Library.
The Red Baron by Nicholas Wright 1977 Archive.org Lending Library. “Written especially for young readers”.
Richthofen : beyond the legend of the Red Baron by Peter Kilduff 1994, first published 1993. Archive.org Lending Library.

Army Service Corps

Artillery

  • With the Guns by F. O. O. [Forward Observation Officer] [Cecil J. C. Street] 1916 Archive.org
The Making of a Gunner by F. O. O. [Forward Observation Officer] [Cecil J. C. Street] 1916 Archive.org
  • Battery Flashes by "Wagger" [Cecil W Longley] 1916 Archive.org. He was an artillery signaller, (who subsequently became an officer) and is considered to have been in the 2nd Gloucester Battery of 1st South Midland Brigade RFA (240 Bde).[19]
  • My .75 : reminiscences of a French gunner of a .75mm battery in 1914 by Paul Lintier, translated 1917 from the original French Ma Pièce. Souvenirs d'un canonnier, 1914. (Avec une batterie de 75.) published 1916. Archive.org. A book in the series Soldiers' Tales of the Great War.
  • Servants of the Guns by Jeffrey E Jeffery [catalogued Jeffrey E Marston] 1917 Archive.org. Most of the soldiers in the Battery were Welsh. The author became a Prisoner of War.
  • Carry On: Letters In War-Time by Coningsby Dawson, Canadian Field Artillery. 1917 Archive.org. Letters dated July 16, 1916, to February 6, 1917. The author was a Canadian novelist . Also published under the title Khaki Courage: Letters In War-Time
The Glory Of The Trenches: An Interpretation by Coningsby Dawson 1917 Archive.org
Living Bayonets: a Record of the Last Push by Coningsby Dawson 1919 Archive.org. Letters from April 14, 1917 to October 6, 1918.
The Test of Scarlet, a Romance of Reality by Coningsby Dawson 1919 Archive.org. A 2011 edition was published under the title The Test of Scarlet: Experiences of an Artillery Officer During the First World War.

Cavalry

Chaplains (Army)

The Soul of the Soldier; Sketches from the Western Battle-Front by Thomas Tiplady, Chaplain to the Forces. 1918 Archive.org. Includes "Chapter XI “Missing”" page 130, which explains when this classification was used.
  • Letters of an Army Chaplain by William Duncan Geare 1918. Classified by IWM as Royal Army Chaplains Department, Liverpool Regt., Bn. 7, Liverpool Regt., Bn. 9. Digital Collection Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. English text, German website. For download, select "Ganzes Werk herunterladen". To read online, select "DFG-Viewer".
  • A Padre in France by George Birmingham, the pseudonym for James Owen Hannay, c 1919. Archive.org. He was appointed to the Chaplains Department, British Army

Despatch Riders

  • Adventures of a Despatch Rider by Captain WHL Watson, 1915 Archive.org. Elsewhere it is stated that editions after the first edition were heavily edited for censorship reasons, but as this edition was published in 1915, it may be the original edition.
Captain WHL Watson was also the author of Tales of a Gaspipe Officer by Despatch Rider. ‘Military cyclists are popularly known as Gaspipe Cavalry’ Blackwood’s Magazine Nos 198, 199 and 201, December 1915-March 1916, and January 1917 Archive.org. Page 795, page 76, page 246, page 360, page 45.

Engineers

  • A Soldier's Diary by Ralph Scott [George Scott Atkinson, Royal Engineers] 1923. Archive.org. Sapper officer’s day-to-day diary with 2nd Army in the Ypres Salient, April- Nov. 1918.
  • My Story of the Great War by Captain O H Woodward [Oliver Holmes], 1st Tunnelling Company AIF. Published Adelaide SA 1932. 1933 title: The War Story of Oliver Holmes Woodward, Captain 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Australian Imperial Force. A series of 17 extracts appearing weekly in The Recorder Port Pirie, SA, 25 February 1933 to 17 June 1933, with Introductory article and book review both 13 February 1933, same newspaper. trove.nla.gov.au. Includes the firing of Hill 60 mines. Pre war, the author held a senior position in a mining company. Brief Chronology of the 1st Aust Tunnelling Coy, allocated to the Second Army tunnellers.net
  • Tunnellers: The Story of the Tunnelling Companies, Royal Engineers, during the World War by W. Grant Grieve and Bernard Newman 1936 is available in a reprint edition[20], which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3.

Infantry and others

Hospital Days by "Platoon Commander" 1916 Archive.org.
Carrying on - After the First Hundred Thousand by Ian Hay 1917 Archive.org. Also published under the title All in It : K(1) Carries On: A Continuation of the First Hundred Thousand.
  • The Red Horizon by Patrick MacGill 1916. London edition, USA edition The initial chapters differ, although the chapter title is the same. The author served with the London Irish Rifles, Rifleman No. 3008. Patrick MacGill (Wikipedia) Irish journalist, poet and novelist.
An earlier book: The Amateur Army by Patrick MacGill 1915 Archive.org. Initial training in the UK.
The Great Push : an Episode of the Great War by Patrick MacGill, 1917 Archive.org.
Gentlemen At Arms by "Centurion" a Captain in the British Army who has served in France [J H Morgan] 1918 Archive.org. Stated elsewhere to be Volume 13 in the series Soldiers’ Tales of the Great War. [21]
Fragments from France by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather 1917 Archive.org. A collection of cartoons. Published in 1916 (2nd edition) as The Bystander's Fragments from France. Vol. I, More Fragments from France 
Vol. II, Still more Fragments from France 
Vol. III, Fragments from France 
Vol. IV University of Wisconsin Digital Collections; More Fragments from France Parts V-VIII c 1918 Archive.org.
From Mud to Mufti by Bruce Bairnsfather 1919 Archive.org American edition, with American Preface, London edition.
He had previously written War and the creative impulse by Max Plowman; with preface by Henry W. Nevinson. 1919 HathiTrust Digital Library.
  • A Soldier’s Diary Of The Great War with an Introduction by Henry Williamson 1929 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Published anonymously, but by Douglas H. Bell according to a page from henrywilliamson.co.uk. Bell was with different battalions of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, and then joined the Royal Flying Corps.
  • Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden 1929 Archive.org. Subaltern in Royal Sussex at the Somme & Passchendaele. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[22]
  • Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves. New edition revised, November 1957, 2nd edition March 1958. First published 1929. Archive.org. (Catalogued with a different author). Graves was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a Special Reserves Officer. Robert Graves Wikipedia
  • Siegfried Sassoon was an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. See his entry under Fiction, below, which also includes a link to his handwritten Journals.
  • A Passionate Prodigality: Fragments of Autobiography by Guy Chapman. 1966 edition, first published 1933. Archive.org Lending Library. [First you must register. Only one person at a time is able to read the book, as in a 'real' library, so you may need to go on a waiting list]. He was Adj. 13th Batt. Royal Fusiliers, who was gassed at Arras. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[22]
  • A Brass Hat in No Man's Land by Brig.-Gen. F P Crozier 1930. Archive.org.
The Men I Killed by Brigadier General F P Crozier 1937 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Frank Percy Crozier Wikipedia. He commanded the 9th (Service) Battalion of the 107th (Ulster) Brigade and subsequently commanded the 119th (Welsh) Brigade.
  • Scots Guard by W. H. G. Ewart [Wilfrid Herbert Gore] 1934. Posthumously published papers of Wilfrid Ewart, with reminisces of service as an officer with the Scots Guards from 1915 to the Armistice. Link to a pdf from the University of Oxford. Direct pdf. Also see Fiction below.
  • From Mons to 1933 by Gerald Lowry 1934. Archive.org. A Lieutenant in the Special Reserve of the Royal Irish Rifles, he was blinded by a sniper on 26 October 1914. He subsequently qualified as a masseur, then as an osteopath.
  • "The Winter of 1916-17" by Capt G D Mitchell 10th and 48th Battns AIF, a series of articles appearing in Reveille, published by The Returned and Services League of Australia New South Wales Branch, commencing in December 1934, page 15 (digital 17) and continuing each month to at least October 1935. reveille.dlconsulting.com. Scroll from one issue to the next.There is reference elsewhere to further articles in Feb 1936 and Sept/Oct 1936. Mitchell, George Deane (1894–1961) Australian Dictionary of Biography. Also see Gallipoli for another series of articles.
  • "L. M. 8046" : an intimate story of the Foreign Legion by David Wooster King 1927 Archive.org. An American, he joined the French Foreign Legion in August 1914, based in France, transferred to the French Army October 1915, and subsequently transferred to the American Army, including an Intelligence role. Some biographical details oac.cdlib.org, and more.
  • American Fighters in the Foreign Legion, 1914-1918 by Paul Ayres Rockwell 1930 Archive.org.
List of Books about the French Foreign Legion booksandwriters.co.uk

Machine Guns

Tales from a Dugout by Arthur Guy Empey 1918 Archive.org.
First Call: Guide Posts to Berlin by Arthur Guy Empey 1918. A guide for new recruits into the American Army, and their families.
Arthur Guy Empey Wikipedia

Tanks

Eyewitness. Being Personal Reminiscences of Certain Phases of the Great War, Including the Genesis of the Tank by Major-General Sir Ernest D Swinton, R E (Retired) 1933 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available on Archive.org. Digital Library of India Collection 1932 edition.
Men and Tanks by J C MacIntosh. 1921 Archive.org. Part of the series On Active Service.

Secret Service and Spies

Secrets of the White Lady by Captain Henry Landau 1935 Missing at least page 13 which is found in a 2nd digital file, also missing at least one page. Both editions HathiTrust Digital Library. The White Lady was the codename for an underground intelligence network which operated in German-occupied Belgium during World War I. Dame Blanche (resistance) Wikipedia.
  • Mata Hari by Major Thomas Coulson 3rd impression. Full title: Mata Hari Courtesan and Spy, first published 1930. Archive.org,
Also see Chapter IV "A Charming Spy" in Detective & Secret Service Days by Edwin T Woodhall 1929, above.
Official French files Margueritte Gertrude Zelle (French language), part of the database of those who were shot during the First World War. Click on the eye icons for the files. memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr. If this link is not permanent, try the website Search, using the French version website.
The National Archives Kew has two records KV2/1-2 "'Mata Hari' alias MCCLEOD Margaretha Geertruida (Marguerite Gertrude)", both available as a pay download. Catalogue record

Volunteers and others

  • The First World War, 1914-1918: Personal Experiences of Lieut.-Col. C. à Court Repington 1920. [An autobiography]. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Charles à Court Repington 1858-1925. Wikipedia. He was a former British Army Officer who was military correspondent for The Times 1904–1918, who had many influential contacts with officers in the Army's highest ranks.
  • The diary of an English resident in France during twenty-two weeks of war time by Rowland Strong 1915 Archive.org. Elsewhere it is stated Rowland Strong was/had been the Paris correspondent for the Observer, the Morning Post and the New York Times.
The diary of an English resident in France during war time. Second series, Jan.-Dec. 1915 by Rowland Strong 1916 Archive.org.
A Reporter at Armageddon: Letters from the Front and Behind the Lines of the Great War by Will Irwin. 1918. Archive.org.
"The Next War"; an Appeal to Common Sense by Will Irwin 1921 Archive.org.

Prisoners of War

Issue No 16 February 15, 1916 British Library Digital file. The British Library has additional digital files for Issues 17-27 (September 1916). To access, through the Main Catalogue, use the search term BLL01016586686 Then click on "I want this', select the required edition, and click Go. Alternatively, rather than using the Main Catalogue, the digital file for Issue 16, on the right hand side of the page, has an item "View the catalogue record".

Miscellaneous

Forty Years With Dogs by E H Richardson 1935. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. "A Biography of E H Richardson" k9history.com, probably based on the autobiography.
Hathi Trust Digital Library catalogue record for 17 Volumes, viewable by those in regions such as North America. All except the last are stated to be Public Domain in the USA.
Gallica: Bibliothèque nationale de France There are 13 digital files for this publication on Gallica, but they are classified by year published, not volume number. (1919 (4), 1920-1923, 2 each year, 1924 (1)), and it is unclear whether these contain the complete series of 17 volumes, or 13 volumes. The last one digitized on Gallica is classified as 1924, and has the title 5th Annee Tome XVII, Volume 17. There is a Search facility (whole collection) or individual book files. For individual book files, click on the icon for Table des matières, for contents. Volume 17, the final volume, contains a Contents section which appears to cover all 17 Volumes, click on the icon for Table des matières. It is then possible to click through to relevant articles, which may be located in other volumes.

Vocabularies

German Army

Germany's Dishonoured Army by Professor J H Morgan (Late Home Office Commissioner with the British Expeditionary Force) 1915 Archive.org
German Atrocities: An Official Investigation by J H Morgan 1916 Archive.org.
  • My War Memories, 1914-1918 by General Ludendorff 1919. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Also published under the title: Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914-November 1918. The Great War from the siege of Liege to the Signing of the armistice as viewed from the Grand Headquarters of the German Army by Erich Von Ludendorff Quartermaster-General of the German Army.
The General Staff and its problems : the history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed by official documents by General Ludendorff... translated by F. A. Holt. 1920 Volume I, Volume II Archive.org
Deutsche National Bibliothek catalogue entry: Infanterieregimenter Select the main category and subcategories, then select Publikationen, then use the filter on the RHS of the page "Online (frei zugänglich)". (German language). Also see the Great War Forum topic "Regimental histories at the German National Library (DNB)".[29] Deutsche National Bibliothek catalogue entry: Deutsches Heer includes links to categories Kavallerie, Artillerie etc, however only a few titles appear to have been digitised.
Die württembergischen Regimenter im Weltkrieg 1914 – 1918 Links to multiple volumes of different württembergischen Regimenter (German language). Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. If URL Is not permanent, use Suchen. Use the search term Weltkrieg, or Infanterie Regiment to locate many other regimental histories and and other publications. Also from this website Kriegsgeschichte der 12. Batterie Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr 13.
Digital Library of Wielkopolska (Network of Polish Digital Libraries) contains some online German Regimental Histories (German language).[30]
Links to further regimental histories (German language) may be found in the Great War Forum topic "Free German Regimental History Books"[31] and "More German Regimental histories due soon"[32]. For some of the latter Search SLUB Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) Dresden.
German language digitised documents from State Archives of the Russian Federation. German language webpage, Google Translate English webpage. Includes KriegsTageBuch (KTB) and German maps. tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org
  • Die graue Felduniform der deutschen Armee 5th edition [1915] Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart. Read online, or download. File of images, Archive.org 1910 edition
  • With the German Armies in the West by Sven Hedin. Translated from the Swedish by H G de Walterstorff 1915 Archive.org. Another version Archive.org where illustrations may be clearer. The author travelled from Sweden, which was a neutral nation, so that he could view the war with his own eyes, and study the psychology of war.
  • The Diary of a German Soldier by Feldwebel C… First Sergeant 88th Infantry 21st Division, 18th Army Corps. 1919. Translated from the original 1918 French edition Archive.org
  • Memoir of German officer Ernst Jünger's experiences on the Western Front. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[22] First published in 1920, there were many German revisions by the author later published. There have been two English translations, based on different German editions. The 2003 Hofmann translation is considered more literary, but Hofmann was ignorant of German military matters, whereas the 1929 translation by Creighton, who had served in the Great War, was more literal[33] and is more accurate from a military point of view.
The Storm Of Steel: From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer on the Western Front by Ernst Jünger, Lieutenant, 73rd Hanoverian Fusilier Regiment. Reprint of the 1929 translation [by Basil Creighton of the 1924 German edition]. Archive.org.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger. Translated by Michael Hofmann 2003, from the 1961 German edition. Archive.org Lending Library.
In Stahlgewittern: Aus dem Tagebuch eines Stoßtruppführers by Ernst Jünger 1922. Gutenberg.org. German language.
Storm of Steel (Wikipedia).

Post War including British Occupation of Germany

  • The Occupation of the Rhineland : 1918-1929 by J. E Edmonds, (James Edward, Sir). Originally published under restricted circulation 1944. Series: History of the Great War. Available in a reprint edition,[34] which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in World War II/Military Books/Germany.

Fiction

Audio version: All Quiet On The Western Front Archive.org
About the book Wikipedia. First published 1929, original German title Im Westen nichts Neues Archive.org.
  • Half-novel, half-autobiography, the author states the events described actually happened : The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916 by Frederic Manning 1929. Pdf download of a transcription, University of Sydney Digital Collection. Subsequently published in an expurgated version as Her Privates We by Private 19022. 1930 Archive.org. Considered “as being true to the actual experience of modern warfare in ways that nothing else had managed to be”.[35] On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[22]
  • The Secret Battle by A P Herbert 1919. Archive.org. One of three novels published in 1919 praised for its convincing account of war, and recommended by Churchill.[36] The first part of the book is set at Gallipoli, the latter part on the Western Front. The Secret Battle Librivox audio book by A P Herbert. Archive.org. A. P. Herbert Wikipedia.
  • The Silence of Colonel Bramble by André Maurois. Translated from the French by Thurfrida Wake. Verses translated by Wilfrid Jackson. 1920 Archive.org. The author, writing under a non de plume which subsequently became his legal name, was an Interpreter, and subsequently Liaison Officer with the IXth (Scotch) Division, when the book was written.
  • Verdun The Prelude, and The Battle by Jules Romains. Translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins. 1940, first published in English 1939. Archive.org Note: Lacks title page. Book 15 Prélude à Verdun and Book 16 Verdun (published 1938), Volume 8 (some editions), from the 27 volume series Men of Goodwill (Les Hommes de bonne volonté). 2nd Archive.org file
  • Peter Jackson, Cigar Merchant : a Romance of Married Life by Gilbert Frankau Seventh edition 1920. Archive.org. This book "is semi-autobiographical and gives an excellent feel for life as a Kitchener volunteer officer in both the infantry and then the RFA 1914-16… it was also one of the first books to reveal to the general public what Shell Shock was all about. A classic".[37]
  • Way of revelation : a novel of five years by Wilfrid Ewart 1922 Archive.org. Ewart was an officer in the Scots Guards, refer Infantry and others above.
  • The Spanish Farm Trilogy 1914-1918 by R H Mottram, originally published 1924-1926. Trilogy edition 1927 Archive.org. "The underappreciation of R. H. Mottram's World War I novels" by Patrick Reardon 10 December 2015 Chicago Tribune. "The Spanish Farm, Sixty-four, Ninety-four! and The Crime of Vanderlynden's — were set in Flanders, mostly behind the lines, and were based on Mottram's own military experiences. They were published individually in the late 1920s and later issued together with additional material as The Spanish Farm Trilogy". Ralph Hale Mottram Wikipedia.
  • The four book Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford, published 1924-1928, consisting of Some do not... ; No More Parades; A Man Could Stand Up ; Last Post . First reprinted as Parade's End in 1950.
Some Do Not & No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford, reprint edition, first published 1924 and 1925. Archive.org. Volumes #1, #2, #3, #4 fadedpage.com
Parade’s End 1950 edition, 2001? edition Penguin Classics both Archive.org Lending Library
Parade's End: Radio audio adaptation Probably from the BBC.
"Julian Barnes: a tribute to Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford" 25 August 2012. The Guardian. BBC/HBO five-part TV serial was made in 2012. Biography fordmadoxfordsociety.org. He was christened Ford Hermann Hueffer, and changed his name after the War. Ford joined the army in 1915, serving as an officer in the Welch Regiment.
  • The Somme, including also The Coward by A D Gristwood (Arthur Donald). With new introduction by Hugh Cecil. 2006. First published 1927. Archive.org Lending Library. Publisher's page The author was a “reluctant accountant turned even more reluctant infantryman in the London Rifle Brigade” ... "the war as Gristwood experienced it—a dark and desperate theater of pain where only base instincts could get a man out alive".
  • Sketches by Boyd Cable, the nom de plume of Ernest Andrew Ewart, who was appointed Temporary Second Lieutenant 2nd September 1914 in the Royal Artillery where he served in France. By February 1917 he was Acting Captain while commanding a section of a Divisional Ammunition Column. In June 1918 he was awarded an OBE [Officer of the Order of the British Empire] at which time he was Captain, Propaganda Branch, Aircraft Production Department, Ministry of Munitions. Appointed Acting Lt-Colonel, whilst specially employed 12 November 1918.[38]
Between the Lines by Boyd Cable 3rd edition 1917, first published October 1915 Archive.org. Librivox Audiobook Between the Lines, read by Delmar H Dolbier. Archive.org.
Action Front by Boyd Cable 1916 Archive.org
Grapes of Wrath by Boyd Cable 1917 Archive.org
Front Lines by Boyd Cable 1918 Archive.org
Air Men o' War by Boyd Cable 1919 Archive.org
  • Novels by Sapper, the nom de plume of Herman Cyril McNeile , a writer of war stories that were hailed as realistic revelations of the truth about war. [39] He was the author of the later Bulldog Drummond series. Archive.org.
Men, Women and Guns 1916. Also available in an audio edition.
Sergeant Michael Cassidy, R. E. 1916
The Lieutenant and Others 1916
No Man's Land 1917
The Human Touch 1918, first published 1917
  • Edgar Wallace who subsequently became known as the ‘King of Thrillers’ wrote, between 1904 and 1918, a large number of mostly humorous sketches about life in the British Army relating the escapades and adventures of privates Smith (Smithy), Nobby Clark, Spud Murphy and their comrades-in-arms, including
Smithy and the Hun by Edgar Wallace 1915
Nobby: Jam for the Enemy by Edgar Wallace 1915
Nobby On Getting Commissions by Edgar Wallace 1915 . Transcriptions from Roy Glashan’s Library formerly FreeRead freeread.com.au.
  • Young Hilda at the Wars by Arthur H Gleason 1915 Archive.org. The photograph at the front of the book is stated to be that of Helen, the author’s wife. Other characters in the book are stated to be based on Ambulance drivers Elsie Knocker and Mairi Chisholm who worked as volunteers in Belgium.[40]
  • Green Envelopes No author appears on the title page. Published by John Murray London 1929. Letters home from the Front, from many soldiers, to a village in England. A review says "These are the familiar "green envelopes" of active service during the war. ...letters which were really written…" (names changed). The British Library catalogue entry includes the words "A novel", however in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, the book is classified WW1 Personal narratives, British. Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, with the library website in German. Read online or download, the latter is "Ganzes Werk herunterladen".
  • A novel: Across The Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand. Reprint edition, possibly 1955, originally published 1940. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. A novel about Indian (Punjabi) soldiers who have crossed the black waters, against all the advice of their forefathers that calamity would befall anyone who went overseas, to join the British and their allies on the Western Front. The author was born in Peshawar in 1905, so was too young for first-hand experience of the war, but the book has a very authentic feel, suggesting that he not only did his research in books but also listened to the stories of older men who came back. He grew up in military cantonments, according to the introduction.[41] Review by Randeep Wadehra, August 6, 2000 The Tribune
  • A novel: The Ravi Lancers by John Masters 1972. Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. (Only one person at a time is able to borrow, so you may need to wait for the book to be returned. First you must register) . An Indian cavalry regiment is sent to France at the outbreak of the First World War.
  • A novel: Hira Singh: When India Came to Fight in Flanders by Talbot Mundy. Archive.org. Published in Britain as Hira Singh's Tale: When India Came to Fight in Flanders. Serialized in Adventure magazine, October 18 - December 3, 1917. Published in book form 1918. A fictional account of a cavalry regiment taken prisoners of war by the Germans.
  • William – an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton c 1919. Archive.org, missing pages 169-170, but file colour perhaps easier to read, Archive.org, all pages, Librivox audio recording Archive.org, missing pages 169-170. The author worked at the Scottish Women's Hospital at Royaumont and organised Concerts at the Front. The book, written in a tent within sound of guns and shells, won the Prix Femina-Vie Heureuse in 1919.[42]
  • A romantic novel: The Nurse's Story : In Which Reality Meets Romance by Adele Bleneau 1915 Archive.org. The hero of this romantic novel is a Captain in the Ludhiana Sikhs (page 97). There are suggestions that when it was published the book was considered to be fictionalized memoirs, perhaps not written under the author’s actual name. A film based on the book was made in 1919. The book is from the collection of the US National Library of Medicine, so perhaps is considered to have a realistic nursing background. For a review of this novel scroll if necessary to page 7, 5th column of the Pittsburgh Press (newspaper) dated August 7, 1917.
  • Rilla of Ingleside by L M Montgomert 1921 Archive.org. Librivox audio version, read by one reader, Librivox audio, multiple readers Archive.org. The final book in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series for girls, set in Canada. The story of the life of the women at home whose family members fought on the Western Front.
  • Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter by Captain W E Johns 1954. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Contains thirteen short stories, eleven of which were originally published in The Camels Are Coming (1932) and two of which were originally published in Biggles Of The Camel Squadron (1934), originally written for older adolescents. Note however Wikipedia states "The early First World War books were reprinted in the 1950s, when the Biggles books had acquired a younger readership and were bowdlerised". "Biggles" by Daniel Tangri. friardale.co.uk.
  • Dastral of the Flying Corps by Rowland Walker. First published 1917. Gutenberg.org. Archive.org version About the author. The author was in the RFC. An adventure story.
  • Adventure stories for younger readers
    • By Herbert Strang. Gutenberg.org.
    A Hero of Liége: A Story of the Great War 1914.
    Fighting with French: A Tale of the New Army 1915.
    Burton of the Flying Corps. 1916

References

  1. ↑ India and the Western Front bbc.co.uk/history
  2. ↑ rflory. ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY Great War Forum 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Discovery catalogue
  4. ↑ Naval and Military Archive
  5. ↑ UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920 consisting of WO 95/1096–3948 records. Ancestry. However, within this series, there appears to be a further selection of diaries available - not all are included.
  6. ↑ stiletto_33853. Ancestry vs National Archives Great War Forum 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018. Ancestry diaries may have large parts (many months) missing compared to TNA files.
  7. ↑ MrSwan. Ancestry war diaries Great War Forum 17 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Guest. Finding War Diaries: Beating Ancestry's Poor Indexing Great War Forum 27 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Gallipoli Diaries and Great War Diaries amazon.co.uk
  10. ↑ Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War
  11. ↑ Filsell, David. Indian Re-evaluation Great War Forum 18 July 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Time in France Wikipedia. France DST 1916, with links to other years. Germany DST 1916, with links to other years. UK DST 1916, with links to other years. timeanddate.com
  13. ↑ page 66, ‪British Logistics on the Western Front: 1914-1919‬ by Malcolm Brown. quoting end notes 84, 85 WO 95/74 Director of Supplies, War Diary 29 October 1914, 1 November 1914 page 72
  14. ↑ Indian infantry unit war diaries go online The National Archives
  15. ↑ MLW. Online German documents in Russian Archives WW2Talk Forum 19 March 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  16. ↑ Frederick Abernethy Coleman bonhams.com
  17. ↑ Maureene. Online books-accounts by nurses etc Great War Forum 2 November, 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  18. ↑ Larkin, Roy. The Motor-Bus in War. A.M.Beatson , 1918 Historic Military Vehicle Forum 8 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  19. ↑ Porter, David. was "wagger" a real gunner? Great War Forum 7 August , 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  20. ↑ Tunnellers Naval & Military Press
  21. ↑ Page from Great War Dust Jackets Scroll down.
  22. ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 Great War Dust Jackets page listing "War Memoirs : a highly personal top 20", by Great War Dust Jackets and "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War" from The Novels of World War 1 : An annotated bibliography by Philip Hager & Desmond Taylor. Garland Pub. 1981.
  23. ↑ The Spectator 29 December 1917, page 14.
  24. ↑ Naval & Military Press
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 The London Scottish Regiment londonscottishregt.org
  26. ↑ Three Chevrons Naval and Military Press
  27. ↑ "Monocled Mutineer, Percy Toplis" pixelsurgery.com
  28. ↑ CROONAERT German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals Great War Forum 21 March 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  29. ↑ Ken S. Regimental histories at the German National Library (DNB) Great War Forum 10 February 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  30. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 1 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  31. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 7 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  32. ↑ charlie2. More German Regimental histories due soon Great War Forum 12 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  33. ↑ Trajan et al. Ernst Junger War Diaries Great War Forum 14th February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019. Review of the Hofmann translation "A Homer for the 20th century" by Daniel Johnson 25 August 2003 The Telegraph.
  34. ↑ The Occupation of the Rhineland : 1918-1929 by J. E Edmonds. Naval & Military Press reprint edition.
  35. ↑ "An outsider at war" by Richard Johnstone 4 June 2012. Inside Story.
  36. ↑ Pages 51-52 English Fiction and Drama of the Great War, 1918–39 by John Onions. Google Books
  37. ↑ charlesmessenger Casemate Books - a question Great War Forum 12 November 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  38. ↑ Details from the London Gazette.
  39. ↑ "‘Sapper’ : From Realism to Melodrama", a paper originally delivered at the conference of Les Amis du Roman Populaire in Amiens, in 2014. Great War Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  40. ↑ A page from Chapter V, Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson. Google Books.
  41. ↑ Liz in Eastbourne. Across the Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand Great War Forum 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  42. ↑ William – an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton persephonebooks.co.uk.

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